On February 18 local time, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in the Los Angeles Superior Court, answering questions about allegations that social media harms children's mental health. The plaintiff accused Instagram, owned by Meta, of intentionally designing features to addict users, leading to her addicted (Note: retained as is since it's a proper noun in original context, but standard translation would be 'addiction') during her underage years and damaging her mental health. Zuckerberg argued that the company ensures young users' safety in reasonable ways, stating that usage time goals were set early on but have shifted towards pursuing effectiveness and value. Documents presented by the plaintiff's lawyer showed that in 2015, over 4 million Instagram users were under 13 years old, with the plaintiff herself starting to use the platform at age 9 without being asked for her age during registration. The outcome of this case may serve as a bellwether for hundreds of similar lawsuits, with a loss potentially exposing Meta to substantial compensation claims and platform overhauls.
